Nadeem James, another victim of draconian blasphemy laws in Pakistan

A Christian man has been sentenced to death on a blasphemy charge after he sent a Muslim friend an objectionable poem on WhatsApp. Nadeem James, 35, a tailor by profession, was charged with blasphemy in July last year after his friend Yasir Bashir complained to police that he had received a poem on the messaging app that was derogatory towards Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and other holy figures. The Christian man “was handed a death sentence by the court on September 15 on a blasphemy charge,

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan. In 2014 a Christian couple were lynched then burnt in a kiln in Punjab province after being falsely accused of desecrating the Holy Quran.

There was widespread outrage across Pakistan in April last year when student Mashal Khan was beaten to death at his university in Mardan following a dormitory debate about religion. Police arrested more than 20 students and some faculty members in connection with the killing. Since then, parliament has considered adding safeguards to blasphemy laws, a groundbreaking move given the emotive nature of the issue.

There have been at least 67 murders over unproven allegations of blasphemy since 1990, according to figures from a research centre and independent records kept by Reuters.

In 2011, a bodyguard assassinated Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer after he called for the blasphemy laws to be reformed. Taseer’s killer, executed last year, has been hailed as a martyr by religious hardliners.

The retrogressive moot

In March this year Pakistan has asked Facebook and Twitter to help identify Pakistanis suspected of blasphemy so it can prosecute them or pursue their extradition. Under the country’s strict blasphemy laws, anyone found to have insulted Islam or the prophet Muhammad can be sentenced to death.

The interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, said an official in Pakistan’s Washington embassy had approached the two social media companies in an effort to identify Pakistanis, either within the country or abroad, who recently shared material deemed offensive to Islam.

He said Pakistani authorities had identified 11 people for questioning over alleged blasphemy and would seek the extradition of anyone living abroad.

What the law actually is?

Activists say the laws have little to do with blasphemy and are often used to settle petty disputes and personal vendettas. Religious groups oppose any change to the blasphemy law and consider it necessary for Pakistan's Islamic identity.

Pakistan's Christians and other religious minorities complain of legal and social discrimination. In the past few years, many Christians and Hindus have been brutally murdered over unproven blasphemy allegations.

One of Pakistan's most high profile blasphemy cases is that of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was found guilty of committing blasphemy while working in the fields in 2009 and was sentenced to death. In 2014, her death sentence was upheld by the Lahore High Court. Amnesty International called the verdict a "grave injustice."

In one case, a young girl between the ages of 10 to 14 years with Down syndrome, was accused in August of 2012 of burning pages upon which verses of the Koran were inscribed. Rimsha Masih was taken into police custody and only released months later, when charges were dropped. The case caused an uproar in her home town and beyond and sparked riots and violence against Christians in the region. In 2013, she and her family relocated to Canada.

Story is totally different

As we said earlier that laws have little to do with blasphemy. Nadeem’s brothrer Faryaad Masih tell another thing. According to him James has three friends who live in the Gujarat area. Their names are Shakeel, Yasir and Akram. Our neighbor's daughter, Nargis, fell in love with James although she knew that he is married with two children. His friends told him he could only marry Nargis if he converted to Islam although the girl had no problem with James' religion. My brother refused to convert to Islam, and that created a rift among friends.

Law: Inception to present

Under the military government of general Zia-ul Haq in the early to mid-1980s, the country went through what is known as Pakistan’s period of “Islamification”. It was during this period that amendments were made to the framework of legislation against religious persecution which the country had inherited from the British colonial rule.

The current blasphemy laws hark back to that period, when three key amendments were made. The first, in 1980, outlawed derogatory remarks against people who followed Islam. Then in 1982, wilful desecration of the Qu'ran was criminalised. And, in 1986, blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad was made into a criminal offence punishable by death.

Verbal or written, direct or indirect besmirching of the Prophet Muhammad still carries a death sentence today. Many have argued that these laws discriminate against religious minorities, since a disproportionate number of those convicted of blasphemy come from religious minorities. They have also been used as an easy way to settle personal quarrels, since only the word of the accuser is necessary to bring about a prosecution.

Some Pakistani politicians have tried to amend the legislation. In 2010, Sherry Rehman from the Pakistan’s People Party proposed a private members bill to amend Pakistan’s Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, the two primary sources of criminal law. She argued that:

The aim is to amend the codes to ensure protection of Pakistan’s minorities and vulnerable citizens, who routinely face judgements and verdicts in the lower courts where mob pressure is often mobilised to obtain a conviction.

The bill was batted down by the religious lobby.